Watt Wins Gop -- Dems In Runoff

September 3, 1986|By Maya Bell of The Sentinel Staff

State Sen. Ed Dunn of Ormond Beach and former Broward County Sheriff Bob Butterworth were headed for a Sept. 30 runoff for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, while Palm Beach County lawmaker Jim Watt easily won the GOP nomination.

With 64 percent of the precincts reporting, Dunn was leading Butterworth with 200,838 votes or 37 percent. Butterworth had 177,519 votes or 32 percent.

In the GOP primary, with 76 percent of the vote counted, Watt, a state representative from Lake Park, had a decisive victory over Broward County attorney Lavon Ward with 252,498 votes or 73 percent. Ward had 92,098 votes or 27 percent.

In the race for education commissioner, the only other Cabinet seat open this year, state Sen. Betty Castor of Tampa was leading the Democratic primary with 62 percent of the vote and Palm Beach County schoolteacher Ron Howard had a surprising 1 percent edge over Stanley Marshall, former Florida State University president.

In the GOP primary for agriculture commissioner, agribusinessman Charles Bronson of Satellite Beach had 64 percent to chiropractor Joseph Smith's 36 percent. In the GOP race for secretary of state, Clearwater businessman Jim Smith was well ahead of Miami television producer Richard Renick with 66 percent to Renick's 34 percent.

With 82 percent of the vote in, there was no decisive winner in the Republican primary for comptroller. Tallahassee attorney S. Craig Kiser led Jerry Gates, the former clerk of the circuit court in Gulf County, by 1,568 votes.

Cabinet posts are considered important because, along with the governor, the Cabinet makes a number of policy decisions affecting everything from education to the environment. Cabinet members are paid $81,967 a year.

Trailing Dunn and Butterworth were state Sen. Joe Gersten of South Miami, with 130,119 votes or 24 percent and Walter Dartland, Dade County's consumer advocate, with 39,784 votes or 7 percent.

The six candidates, who so far have spent over $2 million to get elected, are vying for the post held by Jim Smith, who is stepping down after two terms to run for governor.

Dunn, a legislator for 12 years who sponsored a number of landmark criminal justice and environmental laws, was the favorite among the law enforcement and legal communities, capturing widespread endorsements from most special-interest groups.

Although a latecomer to the race, Butterworth led in most of the polls, capitalizing on his reputation as a trouble-shooter for two governors. He was appointed to head the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Broward County city of Sunrise when both were rocked by scandal.

While most of the candidates worked to cultivate tough-on-crime images, the race was dominated by bad blood between Dunn and Gersten. Gersten has attacked Dunn incessantly for a year-old incident in which Dunn was accused but later cleared of interfering with two Orange City police officers who were ticketing Dunn's companion for an improper tag.